Tuesday, January 19, 2016

The newest release of the MySQL Connector/Arduino library release-1.1 alpha is available for download. This new version represents a major step forward for the library in ease of use. Here are just a few of the important changes in this release.

Added to Library Manager : yes, you can download and install the library from the Arduino IDE now. Just open the Library Manager and search for "MySQL".

More Example Sketches : there are many more example sketches of how to use the new library from basic connections to complex queries and more!

Redesigned Classes : the library has been redesigned with new classes making it much easier to use a wider variety of shields and modules. Now, you pass in the Client class for your shield and so long as it adheres to the Ethernet.Client primitive, you can use any library to initiate the connector. No more #defines!

Better Memory Management: the new classes permit you to manage memory easier by allocating the MySQL_Query class dynamically leaving memory cleanup for the delete operation. No more free_* methods!

It's on GitHub!: yes, the code is now on GitHub making it much easier to log and track issues. See GitHub Repo.

Notes on Usage

If you have been using the previous versions of MySQL Connector/Arduino (1.0.4 and prior), do not despair as the old version remains in Launchpad and will be be left there for some time. Best of all, the new version does not cause conflicts with any of your existing sketches. That is, your existing sketches will not be affected by installing the new library.

However, if you want to use the newest version in your existing sketches, you will have to change a few things. Please see the section entitled "Changes from Previous Versions" in the reference manual located in the extras folder of the library source code.

How do I get it?

As mentioned, you can simply open the Library manager in the Arduino IDE from the Sketch->Include Library->Manage Libraries menu. This opens the Library Manager. In the filter your search box, enter "MySQL" then choose the connector and click Install. In seconds, the new library is installed and ready for use. Cool, eh?

You can also check the Library Manager periodically for updates to this or any of the libraries you have installed.

Of course, if you want to download the source code directly, you can find it on GitHub at GitHub Repo.

How do I use the library?

There is extensive documentation on how to use the library in the reference manual located in the extras folder. The document is named MySQL_Connector_Arduino_Reference_Manual.pdf.

What if I have Questions?

You can post questions to this blog or if you find a defect, open an issue of GitHub. However, before you do either, please read the documentation - even if you've been using the older versions as much has changed!